Saturday, June 23, 2018 – Leaving PEI was not easy, but
that was the subject of my last blog. This blog is all about the mechanics of
the trip! Saturday was a travel day. We had an Airbnb place reserved in
Cacouna, Quebec, so we knew we would be driving at least 8 hours to get that
far. We left our little cottage at about 8:30. We crossed the Confederation
Bridge out of PEI with no problems. (Last time here, we had difficulty with our
credit card.) The toll for the bridge is $47.00 (Canadian), but remember that
you never pay to go to Prince Edward Island. Whether you take the ferry or the
bridge, the only cost is when you leave the island. I love that. The roads were
a bit bumpy as we started our way across New Brunswick, but they weren’t too
bad by the time we had driven a few miles. The travel was mostly uneventful. We
did travel into Quebec, as I said. This was our first time there. In the other
Canadian provinces, of course all the signs are in English and French. In
Quebec, most things are just in French. We found some of the signs humorous and some just plain mysterious. It was a fun experience. We arrived in Cacouna at around
4:15 local time, after traveling from the Atlantic to the Eastern Time Zone.
That means we got to live an hour twice, which is always cool. You can correct
mistakes or learn a new skill in that extra hour! I did not do that, I just sat
in a car - but at least it was an option. We stayed at our little Airbnb apartment
with no glitches. The view was outstanding, and the finishes were high end.
There were a couple of funny little things that made it interesting to stay
there. First, the beds were just mattresses on the floor. There’s nothing wrong
with that, it was just unexpected. Second, only one of the beds actually had
sheets on it. There were sheets on the dryer in the apartment, so I figured
someone just got interrupted as they were getting the place ready for us.
Still, we didn’t feel like making a bed, so we just went with the bed that had
sheets. Later, the gal who rented us the place told me that her dad cleaned the
place for her. That just made it all the more charming! We slept well as we were very tired from a
long day in the car.
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One last view of PEI |
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The toll before Confederation Bridge |
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Confederation Bridge |
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And now we're in New Brunswick |
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Scenery in New Brunswick |
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And now Quebec |
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Funny sign along the way |
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Our Airbnb place in Cacouna, Quebec |
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Worn out us |
Sunday, June 24, 2018 – We got on the road by 7:15, which
I thought was pretty impressive. We wanted to do our best to get going early,
because this was a destination day and not just a travel day. We were headed to
Ottawa to stay with a friend who I first met on the mission trip I took to
Cambodia back in 2011. Janet Hill was also at the Phnom Penh English Camp with her
Ottawa church’s group. We stayed in touch on Facebook, and when I asked
questions about the Ottawa area while planning our trip, she graciously invited
us to stay with them. Travel went well. One moment of note was when I stopped
at a city in Quebec to order my Subway sandwich. EVERYONE was speaking French,
but I stepped up to the counter and started my order. The kind young man behind
the counter got really big eyes and said, “Oh! In English?” to which I
responded, “Yes, sorry.” We stumbled through, and I got my sandwich, with me
saying “sorry” about every other word. It still tasted wonderful. We made it
through Montreal, with a fair amount of traffic, and eventually entered
Ontario. Ottawa is in eastern Ontario, so we were almost there! Once we arrived,
we were greeted by Janet, her husband Mike, and their wonderful dog, Mozzie. We
met the whole family as well as the family of another person from our 2011 Cambodia
trip. What a great evening it was, with delicious food, wonderful conversation,
and real life togetherness. These two families “do life” together, and it was a
joy to be a part of that. We ended the day by seeing a couple of deer in the back yard and a full rainbow out the front door. Wow!
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Along the way in Quebec |
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Another scenic view in Quebec |
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Now, on to Ontario! |
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Mozzie! |
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One of our small guests took a few pictures on my camera |
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He took a picture of his parents. |
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Neighborhood visitors |
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Rainbow, as taken by panorama view on my phone |
Monday, June 25, 2018 – This was another travel day, but
a bit of a shorter one. We had a five hour journey to Sudbury, ON, on the
schedule. After Mike fixed us a great breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and
hash browns, the Hills (and a little buddy) sent us on our way. We (I) had to take a parting
picture of all of us together. We didn’t get far down the road before Mike
caught up with us, as I had forgotten my Shutterfly Cambodia book there. We had
looked at that the night before and I didn’t get it packed up. The road from
Ottawa to Sudbury was only flat in a few places. I have to say, I have really
enjoyed the scenery this trip home. I think when we crossed back in the states,
we had longer stretches with not much to see (once we got out of the
Northeast).Even so, we are getting a bit “road weary” and we still have two
more full days of driving before we settle in for three nights in Grand Marais.
At this point, we have spent over 86 hours in the car during the past two and a
half weeks, so that might explain our weariness! We found a Comfort Inn in
Sudbury and spent a quiet evening there after a quick grocery run.
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Us and the Hills |
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Another beautiful view on the road |
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Look at that! |
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Our motel room |
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